Link Was Searching For Skull Kid- Revisted And Revised
 

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When I first joined this forum one of my first threads was Link's search for the Skull Kid, and I was surprised on how many replies I had received from it. There were many replies telling me that I had a very strong argument, or that I was wrong, or that I have changed people's mind, or that they thought it was skull kid too. I am going back to that argument because people are saying that because the Zelda mangas say its navi, it is navi in the game. Why? The movie Van Helsing has nothing to do with the popular cult classic anime Hellsing because they have two completely different storylines. Jurassic Park the novel isn't the same as Jurassic Park the movie.

I went back to my argument and revised it, and found some more proof it was skull kid, not Navi, that was Link's beloved and invaluable friend.

Here is the exerpt from N64 instruction manual about the game:

Done with the battles he once waged across time, he embarked on a journey.
A secret and personal journey...
A journey in search for a beloved and invaluable friend...
A friend with whom he parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny and took this place among legends...

Okay, many people are going to tell me, as they had, that it was navi because Link parted ways, as it says, when he fulfilled his heroic destiny. Okay fine, I can see that, but let's think shall we...?
Did Link find Navi at the end of Majora's Mask?
I have an answer...no.

Why would he be searching for Navi in MM, and the ending is that he didn't find her? That doesn't make any sense. That's like Link searching for the triforce and it not being there after he beats a boss in the original LoZ. He was searching for a friend in the Lost Woods...I'm sorry...Navi didn't live in the Lost Woods. She lived in Kokiri Forest with the Deku Tree. Why would Link search for her in the Lost Woods? This is because he wasn't. He was looking for the skull kid, who lives in the Lost Woods, who he made friends with in OoT.

Oh yes my friends. When using Z targeting on Skull Kid in OoT, Navi says
"Is this what happens to kids that get lost in the forest? He might be our FRIEND if we do something..."

Okay. We play him SARIA'S SONG. Please remember this later because it is important. After playing Saria's Song, skull kid is grateful.
"Let's play again sometime" he says.

People are going to tell me that Link never really made friends with Skull Kid. Do we remember that we had to get Skull Kid a mask to hide his face? There's a token of friendship right there, to do something for someone when they need you. This is where Link and Skull Kid become friends, and although the game doesn't show it, it could be that Link felt they became better friends that we thought.

After beating MM, the two fairies talk about skull kid, saying
"yeah yeah, I know
The skull kid was lonely 'cause nobody would be his friend
and the power of the mask made him do it
'cause it was too much for him to handle..."

Well the giants showed otherwise. Guess what...so did Link.

Skull Kid then says
"Friends are a nice thing to have."
"Can you be my friend too?"

Yes, friends are a nice thing to have. Skull kid thought the giants forgot about him. They didn't. Neither did Link. Skull Kid asks Link to be his friend, but Link was his friend all along. SO HERE IS THE KICKER... :devious:

Skull Kid says,
"Eh-hee-hee...You have the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods..."

Hmmm...the same smell as the fairy kid who taught a song in the woods....
Fairy kid? Woods? This is indeed the same Skull Kid from OoT, the same one you taught Saria's Song to. Skull kid obviously doesn't recognize Link, but his smell refreshes his memory about the kid who taught him the song in the woods. The song was Saria's Song. The kid was Link. Link searched for skull kid because he was his friend. Skull kid felt alone because he felt everyone forgot about him, leaving him weak for Majora's Mask to take control over him.

Now let's evaluate each line the Mask Collector says at the end of MM.

When he's about to exit, he says:
"Whenever there's a meeting, a parting is sure to follow."
(This can be seen as Link and Skull Kid meeting in OoT, only to part ways after Link became a hero.)

"However, that parting need not last forever...
(He is right, the parting doesn't have to last forever, thanks to Link. He went to find his friend, and he did.)

"Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time...That is up to you."
(It was totally up to Link. The parting didn't last forever. It was a short time because Link searched for his friend...THE SKULL KID)

He wasn't searching for Navi, or he would have found Navi at the end. Why would the game be about looking for Navi without finding her? That's because Link was NOT looking for Navi. Link was looking for his buddy he met in the Lost Woods, and he found him.

How can anyone overlook the very end? I remember seeing this for the first time and it touched me. Seriously. This was the end to an awesome game. The skull kid draws himself and Link together on the treestump, to show his faith toward their friendship. Notice his other friends the giants in the background of the carving.

Link found his friend, and Skull Kid received what he wanted all along, a friend that will be there for him. And what tune plays when we see this scene, SARIA's SONG, the song that Link taught his friend Skull Kid in the Lost Woods.

There you have it. You cannot deny that you think its skull kid too. Again, if Link was searching for Navi, why the Lost Woods? Why didn't he find her? Why wasn't she even in the game?

The answer is simple my friends: Link wasn't searching for her. He was searching for Skull Kid.

The game was about friendship.

SKULL KID AND LINK'S FRIENDSHIP

This is my theory....what is yours? :devious:

....um ok....
deep down inside I think its Navi, kinda like how people pronounce ocarina as oak-a-rina... yea
After the begining quotes we hear the fairy sound... yea thats my evidence... ok

I think the whole game is a tragedy.. Things change over time.. you can never step in the same river twice etc. Link looks for old friends.. but they have changed and so has link.. Link will never find navi again, and at the end of MM he realizes that.. that he must live a loney life, the life of a true hero.

Anything short of Shigeru saying it was Navi is just speculation, and so is this theory, but it sounds very good to me. In fact, I think it was what Shigeru had in mind all along, and I'm going to believe it too.

Sorry if someone has posted this already (to lazy to read the posts) but nintendo posted it on their website. LINK IS LOOKING FOR NAVI. </argument>

Then I just have one question to that, ZeldaGaiden: Was it an official announcement? On the official site? Who exactly made that statement?

I'd just like that answered, please.

As for your theory, Majora11, you make a lot of valid points, and you seem to have put thought into your arguments. But you should tone down the "I'm right, you're wrong and stupid" attitude. Yup...

I will always believe that it is Navi that link is looking for.
But there is evidence that is starting to make me believe that link was actually looking for the skull kid e.g. some of this evidence is written by Majora11

I don´t know which one Link was looking for. Both theories (Navi and Skull Kid) have some pretty good evidence, so it´s hard to decide which one to believe. Link looking for Navi seems to make more sense to me, but there have been many little details that would point to Skull Kid, like those already posted and this one...

In the intro of the game right after Link is knocked out and Skull Kid appears for the first time, he takes a look at Link and says:
So, Skull Kid already knew Link in the beginning of MM. But as I said, Navi still makes loads of sense to me.

It´s hard to explain, but I think that Nintendo originally meant the game to be a search for Navi, but after it was released, it sort of started to live a life of its own. Nintendo never meant to make a game about finding Skull Kid, but they left some things to MM that allow people to make theories about Skull Kid. Accidentially or not, I don´t know. But what I do know is that my theory doesn´t make much sense... :confused:

I am still very confident that Link was looking for Navi.
First of all, there is no solid proof of who Link is searching for. I believe Nintendo strongly implied he was looking for Navi, but the game was a sequel to another game. Some people would play MM without playing OoT, so if the game started off directly referencing all these names and events from the previous game that would be mostly irrelevant to the events of MM, it would just confuse the gamers.
MM's intro wouldn't be as nice if it said, "After fulfilling his destiny, Link parted ways with his friend, Navi. Now Link is looking for Navi, since she was a beloved and invaluable friend." A gamer new to Zelda reading that would be confused, and assume that this game was merely a continuation of the other game. By not coming out and saying who Link is searching for, the intro was able to set MM apart from OoT in terms of having its own story and theme. A gamer reading MM's actual intro would be thinking more about the theme of friendship than just focusing on the plot events.
Which is why at the end of MM Link continues searching for Navi rather than staying with the Skull Kid.
Because in this case, the story's theme of friendship was more important than just plot events. The story may feel more complete if Link found Navi, but it wouldn't be as poignant an meaningful as seeing Link continuing his search for a beloved friend.
Allow me to ask another question: Why would he be searching for the Skull Kid in MM, and the ending is that he leaves the Skull Kid as soon as they find eachother?
The Great Deku Tree summoned Navi to him. Nothing implies she actually lived in the Kokiri Forest. And the two areas aren't far apart, so I don't see why free fairies would be confined to just one place.
More likely, it was because Link is concerned about helping people in need. Does Link form a beloved and invaluable friendship with every villager and critter he helps out? Also, Link was employed as a salesman for the Mask Shop, so he'd natuarally be interested in finding customers. The text box at that point doesn't say "You have just made a new friend!" it says basically, "Well, he didn't pay you enough for that mask, so you'll need to pay yourself."
This is also unlikely, as Skull Kid attacks Link and steals from him shortly after buying the mask from him, and Link can kill Skull Kid seven years later.
It didn't look like Link was great friends with Skull Kid when he was caught playing the ocarina. If Link had been searching for the Skull Kid, he would have been overjoyed when they met. Link would probably have laughed and let the Skull Kid continue playing the ocarina. Instead, Link glares at him and tries to take the instrument by force.
Sure, they may have been casual friends, but they certainly weren't beloved and invaluable to eachother.
True, those quotes are applicable to Link and Skull Kid, but they fit much better as referring to Link and Navi.
The Mask Salesman seems to understand Link, and he gives him advice as to where to go next in those words.

"Whenever there's a meeting, a parting is sure to follow."
In OoT, Link had met Navi, the fairy companion he had been seeking all his life. But they eventually parted ways.

"However, that parting need not last forever...
Whether a parting be forever or merely for a short time...That is up to you."
The Salesman was following Link in the Lost Woods, and he apparently recognized that Link was searching fruitlessly for someone. The Mask Salesman perceived that Link seemed to be giving up on ever finding his friend again, so he offered Link that advice. He was telling Link, "It is up to you to decide whether or not you will find your friend again."

And sure enough, once Link heard that, he bid farewell to Tatl and the Skull Kid, and continued his search.
Link was looking for Navi. In the middle of his search he happened to find a new friend. Link carved that picture on the stump (the Skull Kid remained in Termina) to commemorate his newfound friends, just as Skull Kid and the fairies carved their picture on the tree in Termina. Haven't you ever searched for something, and found something else that was unexpected but welcome? That is what happened in the story of Majora's Mask, but in the end Link parts ways with his Terminian friends and continues his search for Navi.

Nintendo did everything short of actually mentioning Navi to make it clear to OoT veterans that Link was searching for her. OoT veterans would know who Link was searching for, and players new to Zelda wouldn't be confused by a name of a character who doesn't appear in the game, but they would know that Link is searching for a beloved friend.

somebody who asked me a question earlyer, the site was www.nintendo.com

Search for majoras mask and get info on it. read it. comprehend it. believe it. remember it.

Hmmm.....I was so sure it was Skull Kid.

HEY HEY HEY......geez why search for Navi....she was soooo annoying. ;)

if i was an admin, i would lock this topic, its creating arguments and we know he was looking for navi (nintendo doesn't think she's annoying).

If I suddenly learned that the world was in grave danger and only I could save it, I'd be absolutely thrilled if someone was telling me what I need to do every few minutes. ;)
There's no harm in a friendly debate. I was actually able learn a few more things about MM through this thread that I probably wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

no, i agree with majora 11, i think link was searching for skull kid. or maybe like vacumgod said, the whole game's a tragedy. link doesn't know who he's looking for. the reason MM is my favorite is because of many open ended arguments.

i agree, though.

i think he was searching for saria he could have been headin over to the sacred meadow!!!!!! the lost forest is a clue and as he was riding sk mugged him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yea, the Saria one (i really like that one, it might be tue and nintendo might have lied) and skullkid one (yea, logical, tiny bit possible) has to be untrue, very logical, but untrue. Navi and Saria are most logical.

I suppose this goes to show you that Majora's Mask was a work of art. Just like a beautifully written poem by Maya Angelou or well crafted short story, Majora's Mask was so well done that people have had different interpretations of it and different meanings to them.

Since the first day I played it, I felt it was Skull Kid. I suppose because I thought it was wonderful to see someone who really wasn't liked, like the Skull Kid, to be considered a good friend by the Hero of Time.

Kind of like if you were the loser in school growing up, but there was always one person that stood by you and never let go...

That's just inspiring to people. That is what people admire.